Fastening device



Sept. 5, 1961 J. BARNETT ETAL 2,998,815

FASTENING DEVICE Filed Jan. 17, 1958 FIG. 3. 27

INVENTORS EUGENE J. BARNETT LELAND G.HOPK|NS ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,998,815 FASTENING DEVICE Eugene J. Barnett and Leland Gayle Hopkins, Mansfield, Ohio, assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of l'ennsylvania Filed Jan. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 709,689 1 Claim. (Cl. 126-190) This invention relates to closures for cabinets, for example, doors for domestic ovens.

Heretofore, many oven door constructions have involved spaced front and rear panels and have utilized special brackets, welded or otherwise secured to the rear panel, for bracing the rear panel with respect to the front panel and for securing the two panels together.

The present invention provides a door construction involving spaced front and rear panels with the rear panel having a forwardly-extending flange at its upper edge bridging the space between the panels and terminating in a downward extension parallel to, and abutting, the rear surface of the front panel. Screws of novel design extend through aligned openings in the flange extension and front panel to clamp the two together, and at the same time support a handle at the front of the door. The screws include rearward extensions which substantially close openings provided in the rear panel for assembly of the screws, thereby eliminating the plug buttons usually utilized for closing these openings.

In the drawings;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a domestic range having a door constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken along the line H-II of FIG. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the screw shown in elevation in FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, the reference character indicates, in its entitrety, a domestic range having an oven provided with a front opening (not shown), and a door 11 for closing the oven opening and hinged adjacent its lower edge for movement about a horizontal axis. The door 11 includes spaced parallel front and rear panels 12 and 13, respectively. The front panel 12 has the usual flanges 14 at all four edges of the door, and the top flange 14 has a downwardly-directed extension 16 overlapping the upper edge of the rear panel 13.

The rear panel 13 is provided at its upper edge with a forwardlyextending flange 17, bridging the space be-' tween the panels and terminating in a downwardly directed extension or second flange 18, parallel to, and abutting, the inner sm face of the front panel 12.

An elongated handle 19 is provided with a plurality Patented Sept. 5, 1961 ICE of threaded openings 21 in the rear wall 22 thereof, and preferably is separated from the front panel 12 by a plurality of spacers 23 of heat insulating material.

Special screws 25 are provided with threaded shanks 26 extending through aligned openings in the flange extension 18, the front panel 12, and the spacer members 23 and threaded into the threaded openings 21 of the handle. The screws are provided with heads 27 providing forwardly-facing shoulders 28 for clamping together the parts through which the bolt shanks extend. Preferably, a toothed lock washer 29 is interposed between each shoulder 28 and the flange extension 18 to retain the screws in clamping position.

The screw heads 27 have rearward extensions 31 whose terminal portions 32 substantially close the openings 33, provided in the rear panel for passage of the screws, when the screws are turned to final clamping position. The screws are of such length that, when first inserted in the aligned openings, the terminal portions 32 project rearwardly of the rear panel a suflicient distance to enable them to be readily grasped and turned by the fingers of the Worker assemblying the door. Final tightening of the screws is effected by suitable screw driving mechanism.

While the invention has been shown in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

A door for an oven opening including widely spaced front and rear panels, said rear panel having at its upper edge a forward-1y extending flange bridging the space between the front and rear panels and terminating in a downwardly-directed portion parallel to and abutting the front panel; a handle at the front side of the front panel; spacing structure between said handle and said front panel; said handle, spacing structure, abutting front panel and flange portion and rear panel'having aligned openings therein, and retaining means comprising screws each having a shank portion extending through aligned openings of said flange abutting portion, said firont panel and said spacing structure and threadedly received in a handle opening, and a head providing a forwardly-facing shoulder abutting the inner surface of the downwardly-directed flange portion, said head having an elongated rearwardlyextending cylindrical portion terminating in, and substantially closing, the aligned rear panel opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,969,197 Barker Aug. 7, 1934 2,478,247 Conley Aug. 9, 1949 2,478,526 Danford Aug. 9, 1949 2,681,469 Condon June 22, 1954 

